‘PERFECT’ VP of Sales

Significant mistakes for startups to avoid when assembling their sales team.

In start-ups and software companies Sales is one of the most important divisions. If you do not sell your product, in most cases, your startup will not survive.

Now, let’s dive in and gain an understanding of the structure of sales:

The sales team is one of the most interactive departments in a company.

It should coordinate on a daily basis with Finance, Support, Marketing, Management, and so on. Once you design your sales structure, you may need to make some significant decisions that will make a considerable influence on the success of your business.

Let’s think about who will make those decisions, will it be the CEO or the VP of Sales?

In the first case, if there is no VP of Sales, the CEO has to do the job. From my perspective, it can make things problematic for the CEO. Most of the CEOs I know are extremely occupied with their daily workload; which means they can sometimes overlook or even become unresponsive to sales members. Consequently, I advised companies that do not have a VP of Sales to acquire one.

The VP of Sales can lead and organize his sales team members with a sound strategy, a problem-solving mindset, and put into practice the company’s vision.

You may ask what happens when you have different VPs of Sales for different regions, and all of them report to one CEO? That can cause a significant amount of confusion and frustration.

Different people practice different strategies. All vice presidents want to make the “right” decision which is best from their perspective for their region. Furthermore, every area is exceptionally different, but I will not get into that discussion here.

Multiple VPs may have many different views; which can lead to arguments amongst themselves instead of focusing on sales next steps. CEOs are too busy to resolve these disagreements. Most VPs would like to make their impact and feel influencing. It can cause a stressful environment and competition between them. As a result, When it comes to weekly meetings with other VPs, or with the CEO, in the worst case scenario, people can begin to feel anxious.

Corporate culture may be damaged, and then the business climate can become detrimental.

That is not the intention, right?

Finally, Finding the right VP to lead a robust sales team is not an easy job. However, I believe the right VP can revolutionize your company. The person to fill the VP Of Sales position will be required to have an outstanding personality, motivate the sales team members, and inspire them to have a clear strategy. Also, sometimes the ability to make tough decisions..

Of course, there are plenty of other responsibilities and undertakings to consider when you think about the “perfect” VP Sales.

If you read this article, and you want to share your thoughts, comment or message me and let’s talk!